


Hidden

by SumOfAllThings



Category: Captain America (Comics), Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Comics), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha Steve Rogers, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Dark Steve Rogers, Dystopia, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, M/M, Obsession, Omega Tony, Omega Tony Stark, Post-Apocalypse, Sassy Tony Stark, Survival, Whump, alternative universe, well kind of dark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-02
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-07-05 20:36:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15871296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SumOfAllThings/pseuds/SumOfAllThings
Summary: The barman’s eye flickered behind me and a few seconds later another man stepped up to the bar. The first thing I noticed was how clean he was. Like on another level tidy. It was fucking weird. He had light blonde hair and an unnervingly focused gaze. He was taller than me by several inches and looked like he ate and exercised regularly.My hindbrain started screaming out a warning. Bells, whistles... the whole shebang.The man was trouble.“Uh,” I said, easing back. “Hi...”





	1. Discovered

**Author's Note:**

> I love Tony Stark. That is all.

I usually avoided crowded places. People had a nasty tendency of noticing me. I’d learned over the years, though countless painful experiences, that being noticed was not a good thing. I knew I didn’t help matters. Being quiet and unassuming went against my nature. More often than not I made bad situations a thousand times worse just by opening my mouth. I had a knack for pissing people off.

My stomach grumbled and cramped, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten anything for almost three days. I didn’t have a choice. If I wanted to survive I needed to interact with people. I needed to trade. _And yet_...I hesitated. It had been a long time since I last set foot in an actual town and I could feel a cold sweat break out across my forehead as I considered all the things that could go wrong. I hastily wiped a dirty cuff across my brow and wondered if the inhabitants would realise I was alone and unaffiliated. I wondered if they’d care.

I started when I heard a number of booming voices, resonating from inside the saloon. I stopped mid step, spooked like a goddamn rabbit. The place looked as rough as fuck. Was I really desperate enough to go in there?

 _Yup_ , I decided as my stomach cramped again, realising I really didn’t have a choice. I kept moving, pushing through the swinging doors and stepping into the shithole with all the bravo of a man twice my size. I resisted the urge to fiddle with the scarf covering the lower half of my face and quickly scanned the room. Predictably, everyone was staring at me. I wasn’t too worried yet. They would have stared at anyone, particularly a stranger. It was getting them to lose interest that was the trick.

“What can I get ya?” the barman asked, his single eye roaming speculatively over my face and slowly down my body. The guy had a ragged scar covering the left side of his face and virtually no hair on his pus covered scalp. Part of me wondered if he was diseased and if I’d be better off going elsewhere.

Except there wasn’t anywhere else in a twenty mile radius. 

“Yeah,” I said, leaning forward and trying to keep my voice pitched low. No matter how hard I tried I couldn’t lose the inflection in my accent and it usually captured people's attention. Attention was bad. “I have some items that might be of interest.”

“Being?” the man asked, his expression bored.

“Knives. Good ones too. In mint condition.”

“What sort of knives?”

“Why does it matter,” I said, instantly regretting my tone when the man’s single eye narrowed irritably. “Not kitchen knives, if that’s what your asking. They’re still sharp. The sort of knives bad people use to stab one another with.”

“You looking to trade?”

Great, now we were getting somewhere.

“Yeah, for food,” I said immediately, aware I sounded a little desperate but unable to tamper down the need to get the food and get the hell out of dodge. “Canned goods, preferably.”

The barman’s eye flickered behind me and a few seconds later another man stepped up to the bar. The first thing I noticed was how clean he was. Like on another level tidy. It was fucking weird. He had light blonde hair and an unnervingly focused gaze. He was taller than me by several inches and looked like he ate and exercised regularly.

My hindbrain started screaming. _The man was trouble._

“Uh, hi,” I said, leaning back a little. Jesus, he looked intense.

“You have something to trade?”

I looked at the barman, hoping for a little help. Fat fucking chance there. The man was already moving away nervously.

 _Trouble_.

“You know what, on second thought I should probably be going. People to see, places to go. The whole spiel. See ya -”

I broke off, sputtering as the man grabbed my throat and dragged me to the back of the room. My fucking toes were dangling above the goddamn floor. _Fuck, fuck, fuck_. I grabbed his wrist with both hands and used the momentum to kick the asshole as hard as I could in the shin.

And it did absolutely fucking nothing.

“Whatcha doin’ Steve?” a dark haired man asked as he stepped lazily towards us. He had light blue eyes and a classically handsome square jaw. He was equally as clean as the douche currently strangling me, but not quite as well built. He stared impassively back at me when our eyes met.

_So much fucking trouble._

The newcomer wasn’t going to help me. No one in the bar was going to fucking help me. Steve’s grip on my neck slackened, not letting go but no longer squeezing. I sucked in a desperate breath and tried to break free. The man squeezed in warning and then threw me into a booth. I scrambled to escape the other end and the brunet sat down, blocking my exit. I stared at him warily, waiting.

Steve sat down and I found myself sandwiched between the two men. The two very large, very healthy looking men. _Trapped_. “Can’t you smell it?” the blonde asked, leaning into my personal space and, jesus fuck, _scenting_ me.

“Get away from me,” I snarled, shoving with all my strength. The man didn’t even have the good manners to so much as sway. Like, at all. “Seriously, let me out. I’m leaving.”

“I thought you wanted to trade?” Steve said, his face still disturbingly close.

“I did, with the douche at the bar. You guys, not so much. So if you’ll just get the hell out of my way -”

“Why do you wear the covering?” the dark haired one asked, trailing his fingers against the scarf like he had every right. I turned to snap at him when I realised the man had a metal arm. And it looked fully functional. It was actually kinda beautiful.

“Don’t like to scare the locals,” I answered, tearing my gaze from the man's arm and meeting his eyes with a raised eyebrow. “Seriously, there is some gruesome shit going on under here. It might even be contagious…”

“Bucky,” Steve said, settling his hand on the back of my nape and squeezing. “Do you smell it?”

Bucky didn’t just lean into my space. He actually pressed his face into the junction between my shoulder and neck and inhaled. I had this sudden, terrifying feeling that he was going to tear my throat out with his teeth.

“It’s faint, but yeah I can scent it. Damn, Steve.”

Damn didn’t quite cover it. Fuck, they knew. _They knew._

“OK,” I said, my voice rising and garnering the attention of over a dozen pairs of eyes. “You need to get out of my way, now.”

Except they weren't going to. No one was going to help me. And they knew.

“Secure him,” Steve said, his face impassive as stood up and left the booth, approaching the barman.

I immediately tried to scramble out after him but Bucky grabbed me with the metal arm and I realised pretty quickly that I wasn’t going anywhere. “You don’t need to do this,” I said, allowing my eyes to widen as I fisted his shirt and pulled him close. “I’m not - I’m not what you think. You just need to let me go. _Now_.”

“Sorry, friend but that isn’t going to happen. Just chill out, OK? I don’t want to hurt you.”

He was pulling out cuffs. He had cuffs? _Was he a slaver_? Fuck!

It was pathetically simple for him to maneuver me into the cuffs and drag me outside. The barman and Steve shook hands and then he followed us outside. I fought with everything I had, kicking and screaming. Steve just threw me over one large shoulder and walked until we reached a beat up looking van. They opened the back and Steve placed me inside with surprising gentleness.

“Stay,” he said, in the manner someone might talk to their dog. He closed the door and moments later I felt the engine roar to life and we were moving.

All in all it had taken roughly fifteen minutes for my life to thoroughly and completely combust.


	2. Travel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony's defence mechanism is to swear...like a lot...

Oh god, _oh god._ I was so fucked. I was so completely and utterly fucked.

“Stupid,” I hissed, struggling to maintain my balance as the van picked up speed. I crawled onto my knees and frantically ran my cuffed hands across the filth-covered floor, looking desperately for something I could use to escape. Just my luck that my abductors were equally as fictitious about their transportation as they were about their unusually tidy asses. “So fucking stupid. I shouldn’t have gone into the town. I knew something bad would happen and I did it anyway. So fucking stupid.”

I moved methodically, searching for anything sharp enough to pick the lock on the cuffs. I had a plan. Get the cuffs off and then get out of the moving van before we arrived at wherever it was they were taking me. _Easy-fucking-peasy._

About five more minutes passed before I felt something sharp and metal under my fingertips. I grasped it excitedly and immediately fell back against the wall of the van. I took a moment and realised how badly I was shaking.

“Can’t pick a lock if you can’t keep your hands still, Stark,” I whispered, breathing slowly and evenly. A few more minutes passed and I felt calm enough to get to work. And really, it was ridiculously easy to get the cuffs off. The locking mechanism made a satisfying clicking noise and I slipped my wrist free.

“OK,” I said, getting back to my knees and crawling to the front of the van. I ran my hands across the door but I couldn’t see a locking mechanism. No handle, no lock. No way to open it from the inside. A few seconds later I realised the door was was reinforced with a second sheet of metal. There were a number of fastenings fixing the sheet in place. It became apparent pretty fucking quickly that I wasn’t getting it off without the proper tools.

“Fuck,” I whispered, falling back on my ass and just staring at the stupid piece of metal standing between me and freedom. “Goddammit,” I screamed, jackrabbiting both feet into the covering with every ounce of strength I possessed. “Let me out. Let me out of this damned fucking shit heap of a -”

The van stopped.

I scrambled back, grabbing the cuffs and putting them back on without locking them. I had just enough time to pocket the screw and then the door opened and Bucky was peering in at me.

“You OK in here?” he asked brightly, his eyes passing over me speculatively. “You were making a hell of a ruckus.”

“I want to leave,” I said, proud that my voice remained even despite how terrified I felt. “I’m not what you think I am. I’m not worth anything to anyone and I want to go home.”

Bucky nodded his head in agreement. _Condescending prick_. “We thought maybe you’d want to ride up front with us. Must be pretty rocky back here?”

“I’m good, thanks.”

Bucky kept nodding. “Even so, I’m gonna have to insist.”

I could feel my heart beating frantically in my chest as my fight or flight instincts kicked in. He was only one guy, I reasoned. Sure, he was bigger than me but he wasn’t _that_ big. I had to at least try.

I bolted but I didn’t even make it out of the van before Bucky’s metal arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me clear off my feet. I was hoisted up against the other man's broad chest and carried one armed out of the van and pushed into the front seat. He climbed in after me and suddenly I was wedged between the two of them. _Again_.

“He got the cuffs off,” Steve noted. He sounded pissed.

“Omegas got skills,” Buck laughed, pulling the door closed and settling back with a small smile.

“I’m not an omega,” I instantly denied. “Is that why you took me? What are you guys? Are you slavers? Is that why -”

“We should have left him in the back,” Steve said, starting the van up and driving.

Bucky scoffed and ruffled my hair. “I think his ramblings cute.”

I seriously considered punching the other man in the throat. The only reason i hesitated was because, so far, they hadn’t actually hurt me. It seemed stupid to invite violence to the mix. “That’s me,” I said instead. “Fucking adorable.”

“Language,” Steve said sternly.

“Yeah, how about you go fuck yourself,” I murmured.

Bucky chuckled darkly. “Steve’s kinda old fashioned.”

“What about you?”

The brunet shrugged. “Couldn’t care less.”

"Awesome. So what’s the plan here, boys?” I asked, curling into myself to avoid touching either of them in the confined space. “Where exactly are you taking me? _What are you doing to do me?”_

“Nothing bad,” Steve said, pressing his hand against my knee and squeezing in what he presumably _thought_ was a soothing manner.

I felt sick. “Keep your goddamn hands to yourself,” I shouted, slapping him away and twisting towards the door. “You need to let me out. I need to get out.”

“Just calm down,” Bucky said, forcing me to straighten up from where I was sprawled across his lap, trying to get to the doorhandle. 

“No, you don’t understand,” I gasped, fighting him. “I need you to open the door. I’m going to -”

And yup, I just puked all over good ol’ Bucky’s lap.

 


	3. Surprise

“If you didn’t want to be barfed on your shouldn’t have kidnapped me,” I said, trying to tug my arm free from blondies death grip. The man was strong, even for an alpha. “Seriously,” I snapped at him, trying to mask my fear with exasperation. “Let go already. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Fine,” the other man said, bending down until our faces were level. His eyes really were extraordinarily blue, I thought as I struggled to meet his gaze. “But if you try to run I will catch you. Know that.”

I saluted him when he let go and leaned nonchalantly against the van as I watched them between slitted eyes. I didn’t doubt I wouldn’t get far if I tried to bolt. Alphas could go all sorts of feral when people ran from them. I wouldn’t still be alive if I didn’t know the rules. “If it makes you feel better,” I said, grinning at Bucky with way too many teeth. “It’s mostly just stomach acid. Or, maybe that’s worse...”

Both men exchanged unreadable looks. “It’s not like I haven’t been drenched in worse bodily fluids” Bucky said, using a bottle of water to wash himself down. “You think you can keep your stomach acid to yourself for the rest of the ride?”

Jesus, what sort of resources did they have that they could use water just to wash?

“Well aren’t you just too intriguing,” I said, “And that depends, _Buck_. Do you guys intend to make me the filling in your alpha sandwich again? Because I’ve gotta tell you, that kinda puts a guy on edge.”

Bucky’s lip twitched into a smile. Smiling was good. Smiling meant he might actually like me a little. “How about you sit by the window this time? I’ll even wind it down, in case you need to, you know...”

“Sound’s swell,” I said, looking at Bucky because Steve frankly freaked the fuck out of me. “But how about a counter offer? How about I just suck your cock here and now and you let me go on my merry way? No fuss, no muss.”

“Jesus,” Buck said, looking at Steve.

“You might want to avoid thrusting too deep, of course. My gag reflex clearly isn’t what it used to be,” I wiped my mouth and happened to look over my shoulder when I noticed a jeep approaching. That couldn’t be good. “Now who could this be?” I mused out loud.

Bucky followed the line of my gaze. “Shit,” he hissed, showing his teeth. “Get in the van.”

“But, who-”

“In the van,” Steve growled, low and utterly terrifying.

 

It felt like I had a stone lodged in my throat. I nodded once but instead of obeying I scrambled back. My instincts were screaming at me that I needed to escape the big scary predators before they murdered me.

Bucky took the choice out of my hands, grabbing me by the waist and lifting me into the driving seat like I weighed nothing at all. “Stay,” he said, his scent urgent and commanding. He slammed the door behind him and quickly disappeared from view.

I sat there for a few seconds, considering what to do next. The keys weren’t in the ignition. Clearly they weren’t _that_ stupid. And yeah, It had been a while since I last hot-wired a car, but seriously. Leaving Tony Stark alone with access to an engine. Really fucking stupid.

It took a pathetically short time to hotwire the car. The instant the engine came to life I hit the accelerator and in seconds I left Steve and Bucky in the dust. I could see both men staring after me and couldn’t resist winding down the window and flipping them the bird. The fuckers deserved to be stranded. Kidnapping people was just plain rude.

About an hour later I started messing with the glove compartment and felt my heart burst when I realised it was chock-full of water and protein snacks. I pulled down the scarf covering the lower half of my face and didn’t waste any time helping myself. I was still starving and I figured they owed me. Fuck knew where my knives had gone. Not that they were really any good to begin with, but they were all I had.

Not anymore, I realised. Now I had a van and everything inside it. I wasn’t sure how I was going to unload it without meeting more people. Lesson learned and all that but I figured it was a problem for another day.

A few hours later I was starting to get really tired. I didn’t know where I was headed or how long it would take to reach another town. I figured I should probably sleep but I hated the idea of being out in the open. Sure, I hadn’t seen another car for hours but that didn’t mean someone else wouldn't stumble across me later in the night.

I debated with myself and I reasoned I was going to have to go to sleep eventually. Driving until I had an accident was just stupid. I found a side road a little while later and pulled off. I hit the engines and just sat there for a little while, trying to calm the vicious beating of my heart as I tried not to think about everything that could have happened to me.

Because Jesus, that was a close one. I didn’t know exactly what Steve and Bucky had wanted but kidnapping a man off the street didn’t exactly paint a caring or nurturing picture. And the fact that they called me an Omega was beyond disturbing. They shouldn’t have been able to smell it. My heat was months away and I was covered in so much dirt and crap that my natural scent should have been complete masked.

It would have been bad if I didn’t get away. It would have been really, really bad.

I lay their for a while, thinking about all the terrible things that could have happened and working myself into an utter state. I must have fallen asleep because it was daylight when I was woken by a soft knocking sound.

I ignored it at first, too tired to get up so early. The knocking continued for a little while and I burrowed further into the little cocoon I’d made from what could only presume was Steve’s jacket.

“Jesus,” I whisepered, when the knocking got louder.

The knocking....

 _Knocking_?

I jolted up and screamed when I saw Bucky. I wasn’t proud but holy fucking jesus chirst, he was outside the car. _How the fu-_

“Open the door,” the brunet demanded, his eyes tired but his expression faintly amused.

I tried to hotwire the car again. I was fast. Maybe if I -

He shattered the window with his metal arm and leaned in, unlocking the door and grabbing me by the arm. “I suggest you get out carefully, otherwise you might cut yourself on the glass.”

I realised my mouth was open and closed it with an audible click. Bucky guided me out of the car and that’s when I realised the Steve was sat in the jeep I had seen the day before. Apparently whoever it used to belong to was no longer in the picture.

“I, I -” Fuck if I knew what do say. I had a feeling an apology wasn’t going to cut it.

“So that’s what you look like,” Bucky said, grabbing my chin and tilting my face up. “You’re even prettier than I expected.”

I punched him in the face. I’m pretty sure the blow hurt my hand more than it hurt his jaw. He just shook his head and then I was being dragged towards Steve. I tried to dig my heels in but the man was so much stronger than me. I couldn’t even slow him down.

“Get your goddamn hands off me,” I snarled, kicking out when he opened the cardoor and pushed me inside.

“Keep an eye on him,” he said laughingly to the Steve before pushing the door shut.

Trapped in a confined space with a pissed off alpha made me want to curl up in a circle and hide. I leaned away and waited for him to do whatever the hell he was going to do to me as punishment.

“Well, well,” he said, turning to look at me fully. “Aren’t you just full of surprises?”


	4. Home

I could smell his anger. Anger -- and, _oh god_ \-- blood. He was drenched in so much blood. Jesus fuck, he was going to kill me.

I pressed my face against my shoulder and showed him the side of my neck. It was an instinctive submissive response that I had absolutely no way of controlling. I didn’t want to die. I didn’t want to be ripped apart by an enraged alpha. Maybe if he thought I was some helpless little omega he wouldn’t gut me. “I’m sorry,” I gasped, cringing away when his fingers slid over my nape and squeezed softly. _Oh fuck. Oh god._

“You’re an impressive man,” Steve said, stroking along my throat softly as he pulled me a little closer. From someone I knew and trusted I might have considered the gesture soothing. From a blood soaked unfamiliar alpha it was terrifying. “Over the course of a few hours you managed to slip your cuffs, steal our van and leave us stranded. Not bad for a sand rat. I’m impressed.”

I pointedly ignored the slur and bared more of my throat. “I just want to leave,” I whispered, aware that I absolutely stunk of terror. God, I wanted out of the car. _I wanted his hands off me_. “Please, let go of me.”

“And then what?”

 _Huh_? “What?” I said, gaping at him.

“If I let you go, what will you do? I hope you’ll forgive me for saying so but you don’t exactly look like you’re in the best of health. You said earlier that you hadn’t eaten in, what was it, three days? You’re underweight, you’re filthy and you stink like fear and sickness. So what will you do if I let you go?”

“I’ve managed this long,” I said, a little insulted despite myself.

Steve smirked and sat back, looking at me with a thoughtful expression. “You’re living on borrowed time. The fact that you had to come out of hiding means staying under the radar is no longer an option. Sooner or later someone was bound to notice you. You can try to mask your scent all you like, but even under all that stink there’s no hiding what you really are.”

“Like I said, I’ve managed up until now,” I said, wondering if he thought I was a simpleton because of my secondary gener. I’d known men like him my entire life. Asshole alphas that thought they were so much better than everyone else because they possessed a knot .

“Someone was protecting you. Helping you, weren’t they?”

I could feel that familiar shocking ache in my chest. The pain that never seemed to go away no matter how much I told myself I was getting better. 

“I’m sorry,” Steve said softly.

“What?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“For your loss. I’m sorry.”

I could smell it then. The scent of my own sorrow.

“You won’t last on your own," Steve continued earnestly. "You have to realise that.”

“And so my alternative is rolling over for you and good ol’ Bucky? Thank, but I’ll pass.”

He caught my wrist before I could open the door. We sat there for a tense moment, watching one another. “I’m sorry, but you really don’t get a choice. This will be a lot easier for you if you just relax. We aren’t going to hurt you.”

I snorted. I couldn’t help it. “You realise you are quite literally covered in blood?”

“That’s because you stole our van and left us stranded. We were attacked.”

“Well, not to use anything as ridiculous as logic in my defence, but you did kidnap me. Maybe this should be a life lesson. Don’t kidnap people.”

Steve huffed out a breath. It might have been a laugh, or possibly and much more likely, a coping mechanism to refrain from strangling me. “Are you going to behave or do I need to tie you up?”

“Kinky,” I said, attempting to pull my arm free. Unsurprisingly it didn’t work. The guy was insanely strong, even for an alpha. “OK, Jesus. You don’t need to tie me up.”

“You’re going to behave?”

“Sure thing, big boy,” I muttered, debating if I could throw myself out of the car whilst we were moving. I wasn’t entirely sure what good that would do me, but it was an option.

Steve started the car and moved forward. I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed Bucky was following us. “So, two cars and a brand new omega. Quite the haul for you guys.”

“So you admit you’re an omega now?”

I shrugged. “There doesn’t seem to be much point in lying about it anymore. So, you guys kidnapping everyone you come across, or is it -”

“Just omegas,” he interrupted.

“Oh,” I said. That couldn’t be good. “Swell.”

He was so still. How could anyone sit in the same place for such a long time. Was he even blinking?

“So, why are you only after omegas?” I asked. I was pretty sure I would be happier not knowing, but I figured knowledge is power.

“Because we don’t have any.”

_Okayyyyyy._

“What happened to them?”

Steve’s hand tightened on the steering wheel. “I’ve just realised I don’t even know your name.”

“Rude,” I said, tapping my fingers against the glass in a rapid pattern. I felt eyes on me and stopped mid-tap. “It’s Tony.”

Steve seemed to hesitate for a moment before holding his hand out to me. “It’s nice to meet you, Tony.”

He was kidding, right? “You’re kidding, right?”

“I’m not -”

“ _Hello_ , you’ve kidnapped me. I have been taken against my will, abducted. To be taken to the place of ‘no more omegas’ because they’re all ‘just gone’ for some reason. Go fuck yourself.”

He frowned and I suddenly realised where i was and who I was with. Pissing the man off probably wasn’t the smartest move. I leaned back nervously, bearing my throat.

“You don’t need to do that,” Steve said distastefully, pulling back his hand. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

“OK,” I said evenly. “But I can’t really control it.”

He nodded shortly. “I guess it’s just been a while since I last dealt with one of your kind.”

“ _My kind_?” I asked, aware I sounded a little bitchy but feeling pretty justified. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“There are just a lot of alphas where I’m from. You have to be hard. Posture. You know?”

I nodded jerkily.

“It’s difficult to remember everyone doesn’t act that way. That some people are -- softer-- kinder.”

Another nod.

“I don’t mean you’re not weak or anything,” he hastened to add, looking a little worried that I might be insulted.

I didn’t say anything.

“Tony, are you ok?”

A lot of alphas. He was taking me to a place full of alphas.

“Tony?”


	5. Wash

I must have dozed off because next thing I knew Steve was all up in my business, shaking me awake by my shoulder. His face, still covered in dark red blood, made the whites of his eyes look almost demonic. I had a moment of abject panic, flinching back so violently that I cracked my head against the window. “Shit -- _ouch_!”

“Sorry,” Steve said sheepishly, hastily drawing back as I attempted to rub away the hurt. “We’ve made camp,” he gestured behind him, looking a little unsure. Maybe it was because I was giving him the stink eye.

I bit back my immediate response, which was to tell him to fuck off. “What time is it?” I asked, feeling all sorts of groggy. God, what I would have given for a cup of coffee.

“I’m not sure,” the larger man said, opening his door and stepping outside. He looked at me expectantly but I refused to budge. “It’s getting late though. The sun’s going to set in a few hours. I thought maybe we could take a dip before then. Clean up maybe.”

I looked over his shoulder and saw Bucky tending to a small fire. There was a tent behind him that didn’t look nearly big enough to hold all three of us and further back I could make out a small oasis. I hesitated and Steve clearly noticed. “You coming?”

“Do I have a choice?”

He had the decency to look a little ashamed. “We don’t want to have to force you.”

“Then _don’t_ ,” I said, glaring at him.

He sighed softly, because the poor boy was clearly stressed, and made his way to my side of the van. After a few seconds, when it was clear I wasn’t going to step out on my own, he opened the door and looked at me expectantly. “Tony,” he said softly. “Please get out of the van.”

I noticed the way Bucky was watching us, waiting to see what I would do. Steve clearly didn’t want to put his hands on me but it was obvious he would if he felt he had to. We were at a impasse.

“Hey, Steve,” Bucky said, straightening from the fire and stepping hastily towards us. “I’ll get Tony. You finish setting up.”

So saying the asshole stepped into my space, hooked an arm around my waist and dragged me out of the fucking car without so much as a by your leave. He set me down on the ground and smiled widely when I showed him my teeth.

“Must feel good to be able to force people to do whatever you want,” I said, refusing to back down when our eyes locked. I used to do the same thing to -- before she -- before I lost _her_. I didn’t back down easily. Not unless I absolutely had to.

I wasn’t surprised when Bucky grinned at me. He seemed like the sort of Alpha that didn’t posture or bully. Despite my accusation I didn’t think he was the sort of man to lash out because someone refused to submit.

“You must be hungry,” he said, proving my point by dropping his gaze and turning back to the fire. Showing me just how much of a non-threat I was. “We’ve got some soup. Bet it’s been awhile since you last ate something hot.”

“I’m actually pretty good. Filled up on power bars.”

His smile flickered. Yup, he thought I was hilarious. “Even so -- warm food?”

It did sound tempting and it seemed pretty pointless to fight them for the sake of it. I clearly wasn’t going anywhere until the opportunity presented itself. I shrugged and stepped past him, collapsing down in front of the fire.

I saw Steves eyebrows arch, clearly surprised by my sudden graciousness. I gave him the finger when I thought he wasn’t looking. I was pretty sure Bucky noticed by the way he snorted.

“You can calm down. We’re not going to do anything to you,” Steve said, not looking at me as he kept poking at the fire.

 _Huh_?

“Seriously Tony. Please, just calm down.”

“I am calm,” I said, gesturing to myself. “Look at me. I’m quiet, still. I’m not crying or screaming. What more do you want from me?”

“You smell like you’re about to have a panic attack,” Bucky said, placing the promised cans of soup on the ground in front of me.

They would have been a hell of a find. Pity I didn’t get the chance to really scope out the van. I guessed it served me right for napping.

“Maybe this is just how I smell,” I said, shrugging. They could complain all they liked but I wasn’t about to get any more relaxed. “If you don’t like it I don’t have a problem getting out of your hair.”

“If we left you now you’d be dead in a week,” Steve said, pulling out a small pocket knife and jimmying open a can of soup. “I know you don’t believe us yet, but we’re doing this for your own good.”

“Because the helpless little omega is incapable of taking care of himself, right?” I snorted, feeling a sudden and overwhelming sense of frustrating. I wanted to lash out. To hurt them until they felt as helpless as I did.

“How about a bath, Tony?” Bucky asked gently.

I was suddenly torn between anger and terror. I felt a whine crawl up my throat and was incapable of holding it in. Both men cringed and moved towards me.

 _Too fast. Too much_.

“Don’t,” I said, stumbling back. “Don’t — don’t touch me.”

“ _Whoa_ ,” Steve said, arms outstretched in appeasement. “Whatever you think we’re going to do to you, we won’t. Bucky just thought you might be more comfortable -“

“I’m not getting undressed in front of you. I’m not…”

“Tony,” Bucky said softly, like he was talking to a child. “We’re not going to make you do anything you don’t want to. It’s just — you’re filthy. It can’t be comfortable.”

“Yeah, well you know what you can do if you don’t like it,” I spat.

We were at a standstill. I thought my heart was going to pop out of my chest and then Steve abruptly pulled off his shirt and proceeded to strip. I realised my eyes were bugging out of my head and quickly dropped my gaze.

“Well,” Steve said, turning his back. “You might be fine with smelling but I’m taking a bath.”


	6. Perceptions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New chaptttteeerrrrrrr!

I woke with a jolt, disorientated and groggy. I was still exhausted, which is why I didn’t immediately notice why my heart was beating painfully hard in my chest. It wasn’t until I tried to move and realised _I couldn’t_ that the panic started to make sense.

I felt smothered, trapped and helpless -- all emotions I absolutely abhorred. I caught Steve’s scent and lifted both of my hands, relieved they were mostly free. I could hear his sure, even breaths and realised that _yes_ , I was pinned and _yes_ , Steve was lying half on top of me, _smothering me_ , but he wasn’t trying to hurt me. He was just a sleep snuggler. Go fucking figure.

“Steve,” I hissed, attempting to wriggle free. I wasn’t really surprised when he didn’t budge. He was a hell of a lot bigger than me, taller and heavier, and it wasn’t as if I’d been getting a regular amount to eat recently. “I can’t -- get off me.”

“Go back to sleep, Tony,” the alpha muttered sleepily. “You’re safe. Just sleep.”

“I can’t _breathe_ ,” I hissed, struggling harder. It was true too. I felt like his weight was pressing down on my lungs. I couldn’t seem to get enough air.

“It’s early.”

“You’re not hearing me, asshole. You’re crushing me. Get off!”

Steve grunted unhappily but finally seemed to get the message. He lifted himself up enough to let me squirm out from underneath him but didn’t let me get very far before wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me into his side. The shithead was trying to make me the small fucking spoon! “Sleep. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”

“Yeah, except I’m not tired,” I growled, squirming. “Jesus Steve, it’s like a sauna in here. Will you at least give me some space?”

“No,” the younger man growled, not letting up. “Sleep.”

I was convinced I was about to have an aneurysm. “Tell me to go to sleep one more time and I’m going to track down my old knives and, I swear this to you, I will stab you in the face. Just try me.”

Even though his eyes were still closed, Steve’s mouth twisted into a half smile. The dick thought the whole thing was funny. He was laughing at me.

So I punched him in the motherfucking eye.

That finally woke him up! The larger man grabbed my fist with lightning reflexes before I could take a second swing at him and sat up, dragging me with him.

“Don’t do that again,” he said, tone deep and authoritative.

I snorted at him. “Yeah, OK -- _except_ if you’re going to push me down and not let me get back up again you’re going to have to resign yourself to being punched in the goddamn face!”

Steve cocked his head to the side and studied me with unnerving intensity. His nostrils flared, blatantly inhaling my scent. In the good old days that sort of behaviour would have been considered hella rude. He looked like he was thinking very carefully about his response. “You’re scared,” he finally noted, frowning softly.

I bit down my initial response, which was to mock and pretty much tear him apart. I was still angry and he was still holding onto me. I wanted him to let me go and nothing I had tried so far was making him back off. I wasn’t an idiot -- I knew when it was time to change tactics. “I want you to let go of me,” I said, taking a deep breath and instantly regretting it when I realised that the tent, beneath Steve’s strong alpha scent, absolutely reeked of my distress.

“You won’t punch me again?”

“Why?” I sniped. “Did it hurt?”

“Only my pride,” Steve muttered, smiling at me again as he rubbed at his jaw.

His teeth were straight and perfectly white. I couldn’t help but fantasise about knocking them out one at a time. “It must be embarrassing, being hit by an omega.”

He seemed to realise his mistake pretty quickly. “I didn’t mean -”

“Yeah,” I said, turning my wrist is his loosening hold. “You did. So, you going to let go?”

He opened his hand and I quickly pulled free. Steve then proceeded to sit back and just...watch me.

I was used to people looking at me. Before, when my world wasn’t nearly as shit at is was now, I’d enjoyed the protection and admiration that went hand in hand with being the son of one of the most important men on the planet. I knew how to deal with scrutiny. Only -- spending so much time with just Pepper for company must have made me rusty because I could feel the tenuous hold on my temper start to fray. “ _What_?” I eventually snapped, unable to take it any longer.

Steve seemed to come back to himself with a start. He had the decency to look a little embarrassed. “I’m sorry! I don’t mean to stare. It’s just that...I’ve never met anyone like you before.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I asked, genuinely perplexed.

“You’re not…” Steve ran his fingers through his hair, struggling for the right words. “Normally, when we find an omega on the road, they're so broken down and, well, wrecked that they’re too terrified to even speak to us. I mean, you’re dirty and a little on the thin side, but you’re -- you’re not… _broken_.”

What the fuck was I supposed to say to that?

“Is it easier for you, if they’re broken?” I eventually asked, my eyes locked on his. I was a little surprised by the venom in my own voice. I’d not come across another omega in a very long time, but I could easily guess what sort of shit they’d experience if they were alone and didn’t have a way to defend themselves. Hell, most of them would have been born to a life of pain and humiliation, all because they were the weaker, rarer gender. They never stood a chance.

“I hate it,” Steve rasped, reaching out to touch me but seemingly thinking better of it when I glared at him. “Some of them can’t be helped. No matter what we try to do for them, they’re broken beyond repair. Some of them can be brought back to some semblance of normality, but they’re almost always terrified of alphas.”

I gritted my teeth at him in a mean smile. _Look, I’ve got teeth too!_ “I think we’ve already established that I’m afraid of you, He-Man.”

“Yeah, I can smell it. You’re scared, panicked and anxious,” Steve got a weird look in his eyes as he leaned closer. “But you’re still rational. You’re not so completely, mindlessly out of your mind with terror that you can’t think. You’ve shown me your throat -- what is it -- once? The whole time we’ve been together, after everything that’s happened and you’ve only shown me your throat one time. It’s remarkable.”

“That’s me,” I said, flashing him the most insincere smile I could muster. “Remarkable. I can speak without screaming and have the balls not to show my throat everytime an alpha looks at me. I’m a king among my kind.”

“I didn't mean that,” Steve said, looking a little lost. Poor dear really was trying to be kind. It was a pity I wasn’t feeling particularly benevolent . “I’m not trying to degrade you.”

“No?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow. “Because telling me how special I am because I’m not a blithering idiot isn’t exactly a compliment. Omegas aren’t morons, Steve and I’m not special for being able to string a sentence together.”

“I know that! I do -- I -”

“Look,” I interrupted, wrapping my arms around my waist and willing him to hear me. “I’m not going to sleep anymore tonight. I’m restless and I need a piss. Can I please get out of this tent and get some fresh air?”

The other man looked like he wanted to say more but he wisely swallowed his words and nodded once. “OK, let’s go,” he muttered, reaching for the zip and letting in some blessed fresh air.

Freedom at last. Thank fuck!


	7. Remember

Sometimes, when I was still and things were quiet, I would think of Pepper. I would remember her strawberry blonde hair and smooth pale skin. I would remember her sweet sandalwood scent and kind eyes.

It was during those moments that the grief would hit, pummelling the sweet memories into pain and longing. My breath would catch and my eyes would mist up, and -- _Jesus fucking Christ_ \-- I couldn’t breathe. How could she be gone? How was it possible I’d never get to see her again?

My friend. My --

She had taught me so much. She had taught me how to love. _She had loved me._

I was very young when I first realised there was something fundamentally different about me. At first I couldn’t understand why the other kids didn’t want me to play with them, especially when they so readily accepted one another. I grew up believing there was something wrong with me -- _that I was wrong_ \-- and it was my fault they treated me so differently.

I was five when I learned that the reason they didn’t want me around was because I was omegan. At the time, as far as I could tell, the only difference between us was our scents. Why would something so small matter to anyone?

“Omegas don’t play with alphas, my sweet,” my mother told me, when I kept pestering her.

“But why?”

“Because that’s the way it is. It’s the way it’s always been.”

Which even back then sounded like utter bullshit.

So I questioned things -- _I questioned everything_ , often and loudly. I wanted to know why I couldn’t go out and play like the other children. I demanded the right to learn and travel and be a goddamn human being. My plumbing didn’t make me a lesser person. Being able to have a kid didn’t make me weak or stupid.

My ideals frightened my mom. She was so deeply indoctrinated that questioning anything was unthinkable. When I was a little older I began to realise that the sadness that perpetually accompanied her was due to a lifetime of oppression and abuse. Yet despite all of the terrible things she experienced she still expected me to follow in her footsteps. She didn’t want me to question the system. The very idea terrified her.

The alphas certainly seemed happy with the status quo -- even the little ones walked around with an unearned air of superiority and self-importance. As we grew older the alphas became louder and more headstrong. The few omegas living on our estate became withdrawn and timid. Some of them even started to wear the old fashioned veils my grandmother used to wear. Apparently they were coming back into fashion, my mom told me one evening when she passed me a prettily wrapped package.

_Fuck. That._

I refused to conform. I had a mind and I had plans. None of those plans included a life of sitting pretty and being silent. Luckily we were very rich and I was indulged, for the most part. My dad wasn’t around much but he understood that, omega or not, I had enough of his intellect that leaving me unoccupied and bored would likely end with something being blown up. So I received schooling way past the age of most omegas. I was taught how to ride a bike and drive a car. I could shoot a gun and fix engines, climb trees and exercise freely. My absolute favorite thing to do was build things. I could spend days lost to my lab, tinkering and building as I helped to build a better future. It was everything I could ask for and more than most omegas could ever dream of. I was lucky and happy. It was pretty cool, if a little lonely.

And then Pepper came into my life...

“Tony?” A hand waved in front of my face, bringing me back to here and now. I realised how close Bucky was standing and flinched away violently. I was only a little surprised when he immediately backed off. “You OK?”

“Daydreaming,” I admitted, running my fingers through my hair and cringing a little at the crusted filth I encountered. I met Bucky’s kind gaze and couldn’t help but file that look away for future reference. “So what’s on the cards for today, Buck?”

“Are you sure you’re OK?” he sniffed delicately, which was dangerously close to being hella rude. Which really was laughable considering they were still in the process of kidnapping me, but still. “I said I’m fine. Jesus, what do you want from me? A goddamn doctors certificate!”

He wisely backed off. “Once we’ve finished packing up we’re going to head out,” he said, holding his hand out with a quirked eyebrow. He seemed a little surprised when I let him help me to my feet. “We should be back at the base by tomorrow evening.”

I purposefully ducked my head and pushed _scared, vulnerable, alone_ at him. As suspected he deflated a little, making himself look smaller and less threatening. “Hey, it’s OK” he soothed. “You don’t need to be scared. No one's going to hurt you.”

“Of course they are,” I said, showing him my throat as I purposefully didn’t look at him. Oh yeah, old Buck was crushing hard. “You’re not taking me back there out of the goodness of your hearts.”

“What if I said to you that that was exactly what we were doing?”

“I would say I didn’t believe you,” I said truthfully. “No ones does anything without something in return.”

“It’s time to go,” Steve said, stepping beside Bucky with easy familiarity. “You guys ready?”

“Not like I’ve got anywhere else to be,” I said, jumping off the hood of Bucky’s car before I was physically moved. Somehow, walking to my own death felt better than being dragged. “We were just talking about how psyched we are to almost be home.”

“Tony -” Steve began, reaching out his hand.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” I snarled, jumping out of his reach. “You hear me asshole? Keep your hands to yourself before I figure out a way to hack them off and insert them up your -”

“ _OK_ , that’s enough,” Bucky said quickly, stepping towards me. “You don’t want us to touch you. Fine. Get in the car.”

“Fine!” I snapped, walking around to the passenger side and climbing inside. I was there for less than thirty seconds when I heard Buck swear and hastily follow me. I openly smirked at him. “Scared I’m going to leave you?” I asked sweetly.

“Didn’t take you long to hot-wire the car last time,” he grumbled, starting the engine.

“Yeah, I’m pretty good with engines,” which was the understatement of the century. “You guys got electricity where we’re going?”

“A little,” he answered, which was surprising. “We use generators, but they’re pretty old. We don’t like to overexert them.”

“You got a mechanic?”

He pulled off, following behind Steve. I noticed he did that lot.

“We did, but she died a while back. Her apprentice was still pretty green and we haven’t been able to find a replacement yet,” he gave Tony a mock-sly look. “You thinking of applying for the job.

I shrugged. “Depends on whether I’m allowed to leave the bedroom or not.”

Bucky’s eyes turned back to the road.

“That’s why you’re taking me back, right? To be some assholes baby-maker? To lie back and think of England and push out some kids for the good of mankind…”

“It’s not going to be like that,” Bucky said softly, his shoulder hunched up. “No one is going to force you, Tony. We just need you to stay with us. We need people.”

“And I know of one surefire way to get them,” I grumbled.


	8. Hide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter - sorry guys and gals. Just trying to get back into the swing!

It was a long and tiring ride. There was only so much time a body could sit rigid with fear and anxiety before exhaustion took over. I slumped against the atrociously uncomfortable carseat and spent some time staring despondently out of the window. The the view was mind numbingly dull, Bucky wasn’t speaking to me and pretty soon I got bored.

Pepper used to say the most dangerous thing in the word was a bored Tony Stark.

I decided to stare at Bucky. At the very least it might make the other man uncomfortable. Annoyingly it didn’t seem to phase him much and after a while I got bored of that too. I started to tap my fingers against the door, my knee, the window, anything I could reach. After a little while, just when I thought my brain was going to implode, an idea took root. It was a bad idea -- a terrifically stupid one in fact -- but I couldn’t seem to shake it off. The longer I sat there the more the urge to act gnawed at me.

I was wearing a seatbelt and Bucky...wasn’t.

No, it was stupid. There was no guarantee the seatbelt would save me. I was going to get myself killed. And even if I somehow survived and managed to take Bucky out I would still have one very big and very angry Alpha on my tail.

And, when everything was said and done, did I really want to hurt Bucky?

Did I really want to be kidnapped, raped and forced to carry on humanity?

I waited until we reached 60 miles per hour and stretched my arms languidly. Bucky clearly didn’t expect me to suddenly reach out and grab the wheel. Why would he when I’d acted so perfectly docile for days?

I had enough time to yank Bucky’s gun free before the car flipped. The noise was terrible and all I could do was close my eyes and brace for impact. The seatbelt cut into my chest and the airbag deployed. I was jarred violently and had a brief second to consider how desperately I didn’t want to die.

Because, despite everything, I had no desire for everything to just end. Things could get better. I had to believe that this fuckup of a life wasn't my only shot.

We miraculously ended rightside up. I turned my head slowly and felt a little numb when I realised Bucky was no longer beside me. The windshield was destroyed and the logical conclusion was that the man had been thrown from the car, just like I suspected he would be.

 _Should have worn a seatbelt_ , I thought a little hysterically. I realised there were tears in my eyes and my breathing was too quick. Now was not the time to have a panic attack. I pushed through the emotions threatening to smother me and concentrated on moving my limbs. I was intact but sore. I figured once the adrenaline wore off I’d be in a much worse state.

I managed to hold onto the gun. Part of me was frankly amazed it hadn’t gone off. Fuck, what had I been thinking? Impulses got people killed. I knew better. I should have waited for a better opportunity.

_Snap out of it!_

I had to move. Steve would go to Bucky first. If Bucky was dead Steve would probably kill me. Grief could do terrible things to people.

_So can fear._

I tried to open my door but it was wedged shut. I turned blearily to the hood and realised the engine was in flames. _Fuck, fuck!_ Panic flared and I tugged desperately at my belt until it popped free and I was able to scramble to the drivers side of the car. I moved slowly when I stepped outside, feeling my limbs shake and knees threaten to buckle.

 _Shit_ , I was worse off than I first thought. I stumbled forward a few feet and then collapsed. My ears were ringing and I wondered briefly if I had a concussion. I didn’t remember hitting his head but everything had happened so quickly. I reached out and tentatively ran my fingers through my filthy hair and felt a spark of panic when they came back sticky with blood.

_Fuck!_

Steve was standing with his back to me a little further up the road. Bucky was lying in the recovery position next to him. I wondered if he was dead.

The odd thing was that Steve wasn’t looking at me or Bucky. He was staring up the road. I followed the line of his gaze and felt my stomach clench. _Because of-fucking-course a train of bikes would be travelling towards them._ They’d probably been tailing them all day and I was too wrapped up in his own panic to notice. No wonder Bucky had been ignoring me.

They were about to be swarmed. There had to be twenty bikes.

Steve turned around to look at me with a blank expression on his stupidly perfect face. “Run.”

Was he kidding! Run where? They were in the middle of the fucking desert. There was nowhere to go and I doubted one gun was going to do me much good against a pack of outlanders.

Instead of trying to run i rushed back towards Steve and the other van. Instinct took over and i just needed to hide. With one last desperate look at the bikers I dropped to my stomach and crawled underneath the engine.


	9. Never

There was nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. I was a dead man. I wondered what Pepper would think of me -- the first time I go out on my own and I mess up so badly I get myself kidnapped and ultimately murdered -- I couldn’t help but think I’d failed her.

Would they rape me first? Probably, although It would depend on whether they shot me before they caught a whiff of what I was.

I curled further into myself and wondered if there was any chance, at all, that they’d just kill one another. Steve was some sort of super badass -- maybe they’d all go to town and I could just waltz out, grab a car and run for the hills. Crazier things had happened.

There was yelling but no gunshots. That was a good thing, right? Unless they wanted to save the bullets and were just gutting Steve and Bucky. And yup, there went the guilt. Bucky was helpless because of me. Despite everything I didn’t want him to die.

“There were three of you,” someone growled out and I had to bite down on my fist to stop from whimpering. I suddenly realised what being scared shitless really felt like. “We saw him. An undefined male. Where is he?”

“There wasn’t a third,” Steve rasped, sounding absolutely wrecked. What were they doing to him? Why was he lying for me? “It’ just-just us.”

“I saw him,” a second voice argued, the timber unmistakenly female. “Small, bearded and dirty. He’s been travelling with you for days.”

_Fuck, fuck!_

“You’re wrong.” Steve said steadily, “It’s just the two of us.”

A gunshot rang out and Steve muffled a scream. So much for them not using bullets. Was he dead? Dying? Was I next?

“Look for him,” the first voice snarled. “He can’t have got far.”

I’m closer than you think, I thought a little hysterically as half a dozen pairs of feet rush past my hiding place. I help my breath, sure they were going to hear my panicked breathing.

Seemed I was worrying about the wrong thing.

“Hey, do you smell that?” someone piped up.

I had about three seconds to panic before a granite-like hold clamped onto my ankle and I was being dragged out from underneath the truck. A dirty, bearded alpha loomed over me, his craggy face morphing into a grin as I stared, frozen, back at him.

“Holy fucking shit,” the man boomed, twisting his hand in my shirt and dragging me to my feet. He fisted a hand in my hair and pressed his face against my neck, inhaling deeply before pushing me back and hoisting me up onto my tiptoes. “They’ve got a goddamn omega.”

I could feel sweat break out on my skin and an uncontrollable whimper break free. The alpha grin widened in response as he abruptly pulled me against his side and shoved his face back against my throat. “I can’t remember the last time I had me an omega,” he breathed wetly against my neck.

My hindbrain told me I needed to stay still and quiet. _Don’t be a problem. They won’t hurt you if you don’t make them angry_. Except I knew better. I knew exactly what they would do to me.

“Hand him over, Dames,” the woman said, sounding bored. “You know you can’t keep him.”

Damnes snarled, drawing back and dragging me with him. “Fuck you bitch. I found him. He’s -”

Damnes dropped before the sound of the gunshot registered. I fell to my knees next to his dead body, unable to tear my eyes away from the hole in the middle of his forehead. I hadn’t had cause to see too many dead people before. I couldn’t honestly say I liked it.

“Avery, get the omega checked out,” the woman said. “We’ll handle his boyfriends.”

I felt wiry arms wrap around my waist, dragging me to my feet and pulling me back into the van. I started to panic when I was forced onto my back. All the beta had to do was snarl in my face and I went limp.

_Fucking biology. Stupid fucking goddamn motherfucking biology._

I watched through half-lidded eyelashes as she loomed over me, pressing her hands over my body in a perfunctory manner I quickly realised wasn’t sexual. I felt myself relax minutely when I realised what she was doing. “I’m not hurt,” I said, my voice raw but steady.

“Hush,” the beta said, pressing her hand against my chest despite the fact I wasn’t struggling. “The alpha out there. Is he yours?” I pressed my lips together and then felt my entire body stiffen in shock as the beta pressed her fingertips against my mating gland. “Huh, I didn’t expect that. Aren’t you quite the find.”

“Get the fuck off me,” I said, my voice surprisingly calm despite how terrified I felt. I knew I had my answer -- they were going to rape me, that much was obvious. I wasn’t as sure what would happen to me after that, would they kill me, or pass me around first? Maybe they’d go down the Steve and Bucky route and try to knock me up. Choices choices.

“Calm your ass down,” the beta said, sounding distracted as he looked out the windshield. Much be nice, I thought as the asshole continued to pin me down. “Your boyfriend strong, huh?”

I didn’t bother to correct her assumption. “I want to get up.”

She smirked. “You’re fine where you are.”

I saw her smirk turn into a frown as she reached for her gun. She pointed it in my face and I instinctively showed my throat. “Stay here,” she commanded, waving the gun at me. “If you move I’ll shoot you in the goddamn leg. You hear me?”

“Yes,” I croaked, genuinely concerned she would accidentally shoot me in the face if she didn’t stop thrashing the gun around.

She seemed satisfied that I would do as I was told and got out of the van. I stayed flat for a little while as I tried to overcome the biological need to stay small and hidden. I sat up slowly and felt my jaw drop.

Seemed like Bucky was up and back to fighting fit. He and Rogers were literally tearing the bikers apart. Even as I watched, Bucky tore the arm off the annoying beta woman. She fell to the floor in a pool of her own blood, screaming hysterically and crying for help. The other bikers fell back after that, leaving her to die as they made a break for the bikes.

I expected Bucky and Steve to give chase but they just stood shoulder to shoulder, watching the retreating pack. They had their backs to me so I couldn’t see the look on their faces but after the remaining bikers fled and those on the floor stopped moving, both men turned to look at me.

 _Should have hotwired the car again_ , I thought a little numbly as they walked towards me. Bucky didn’t look too great -- his face was covered in blood and he had a huge gash in his forehead. Every inch of available skin looked shredded. How was he even walking?

Steve opened the car and took my arm in a surprisingly gentle hold. He pulled me out until I was standing between them. His hand reached into my waistband and he pulled out Bucky’s gun -- the gun I had forgotten about in my terror -- I was such a fucking idiot. Both men looked me over, assessing and deadly.

“Are you OK?” Steve asked, which was just about the last thing I expected to come out of his mouth.

“Why, worried about your broodmare?” I snapped automatically.

“Tony,” Steve said, sounding all kinds of exasperated. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” I said, turning to look at Bucky. Fuck, how was he still standing?

“Good, you can help us move the supplies between the vans. Don’t leave my side.”

I did as I was told, helping to move the gear from the destroyed van. I wasn’t sure I was too much help, considering the ridiculous loads both men could carry. Once we were done I was ordered back into the van. Steve entered a few minutes later with a long strip of cloth in his hands.

“I gotta say, we’ve never had to do this before,” he noted, grabbing my wrists and tying them together. He tethered them with a short rope, which he tied around his own goddamn wrist/ “I think it goes without saying that I don’t want you to try anything like that again.”

I nodded quickly but Steve just frowned.

“Somehow Tony, I just don’t believe you.”


End file.
